Title 5

SECTION 2634.301

2634.301 Interests in property.

§ 2634.301 Interests in property.

(a) In general. Except reports required under § 2634.201(f), each financial disclosure report filed pursuant to this subpart must include a brief description of any interest in property held by the filer at the end of the reporting period in a trade or business, or for investment or the production of income, having a fair market value in excess of $1,000. The report must designate the category of value of the property in accordance with paragraph (d) of this section. Each item of real and personal property must be disclosed separately. Note that for Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), defined contribution plans, brokerage accounts, trusts, mutual or pooled investment funds and other entities with portfolio holdings, each underlying asset must be separately disclosed, unless the entity qualifies for special treatment under § 2634.312.

(b) Types of property reportable. Subject to the exceptions in paragraph (c) of this section, examples of the types of property required to be reported include, but are not limited to:

(1) Real estate;

(2) Stocks, bonds, securities, and futures contracts;

(3) Mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, and other pooled investment funds;

(4) Pensions and annuities;

(5) Vested beneficial interests in trusts;

(6) Ownership interests in businesses or partnerships;

(7) Deposits in banks or other financial institutions; and

(8) Accounts receivable.

(c) Exceptions. The following property interests are exempt from the reporting requirements under paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section:

(1) Any personal liability owed to the filer, spouse, or dependent child by a spouse, or by a parent, brother, sister, or child of the filer, spouse, or dependent child;

(2) Personal savings accounts (defined as any form of deposit in a bank, savings and loan association, credit union, or similar financial institution) in a single financial institution or holdings in a single money market mutual fund, aggregating $5,000 or less in that institution or fund;

(3) A personal residence of the filer or spouse, as defined in § 2634.105(l); and

(4) Financial interests in any retirement system of the United States (including the Thrift Savings Plan) or under the Social Security Act.

(d) Valuation categories. The valuation categories specified for property items are as follows:

(1) None (or less than $1,001);

(2) $1,001 but not more than $15,000;

(3) Greater than $15,000 but not more than $50,000;

(4) Greater than $50,000 but not more than $100,000;

(5) Greater than $100,000 but not more than $250,000;

(6) Greater than $250,000 but not more than $500,000;

(7) Greater than $500,000 but not more than $1,000,000; and

(8) Greater than $1,000,000;

(9) Provided that, with respect to items held by the filer alone or held jointly by the filer with the filer's spouse and/or dependent children, the following additional categories over $1,000,000 will apply:

(i) Greater than $1,000,000 but not more than $5,000,000;

(ii) Greater than $5,000,000 but not more than $25,000,000;

(iii) Greater than $25,000,000 but not more than $50,000,000; and

(iv) Greater than $50,000,000.

(e) Valuation of interests in property. A good faith estimate of the fair market value of interests in property may be made in any case in which the exact value cannot be obtained without undue hardship or expense to the filer. If a filer is unable to make a good faith estimate of the value of an asset, the filer may indicate on the report that the “value is not readily ascertainable.” Value may also be determined by:

(1) The purchase price (in which case, the filer should indicate date of purchase);

(2) Recent appraisal;

(3) The assessed value for tax purposes (adjusted to reflect the market value of the property used for the assessment if the assessed value is computed at less than 100 percent of that market value);

(4) The year-end book value of nonpublicly traded stock, the year-end exchange value of corporate stock, or the face value of corporate bonds or comparable securities;

(5) The net worth of a business partnership;

(6) The equity value of an individually owned business; or

(7) Any other recognized indication of value (such as the last sale on a stock exchange).

Example 1:An official has a $4,000 savings account in Bank A. The filer's spouse has a $2,500 certificate of deposit issued by Bank B and his dependent daughter has a $200 savings account in Bank C. The official does not have to disclose the deposits, as the total value of the deposits in any one bank does not exceed $5,000. Example 2:Public filer R has a collection of post-impressionist paintings which have been carefully selected over the years. From time to time, as new paintings have been acquired to add to the collection, R has made sales of both less desirable works from his collection and paintings of various schools which he acquired through inheritance. Under these circumstances, R must report the value of all the paintings he retains as interests in property pursuant to this section, as well as income from the sales of paintings pursuant to § 2634.302(b). Recurrent sales from a collection indicate that the collection is being held for investment or the production of income. Example 3:A reporting individual has investments which her broker holds as an IRA and invests in stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. Each such asset having a value in excess of $1,000 at the close of the reporting period must be separately listed, and the value must be shown.